As projects take hold and community members gain skills, Peace Corps Volunteers can see the difference they make in their communities overseas. But sometimes, a Volunteer’s service touches someone a bit closer to home.

That was the case for Naperville native Kevin Wandolowski, who served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala from 2010 to 2012. His commitment inspired his friend and Naperville Central High School classmate Nora Heneghan to serve in the Peace Corps as well. Now, both volunteers have returned home and are using their skills and experiences to make a difference in Chicagoland.

“When you learn another language and immerse yourself in another culture, you gain another set of ears and eyes to experience the world with,” Heneghan, 26, said. “I had never left the United States prior to joining Peace Corps. The entire experience changed the way I view travel, culture, and life.”

Heneghan grew up in Downers Grove, Ill., and graduated from Naperville Central High School in 2004. She earned her bachelor’s degree in English in 2008 from Illinois State University. Wandolowski, 26, graduated from Naperville Central in 2005 and DePaul University in Chicago in June 2009. The diversity on campus at DePaul, along with the school’s study abroad program, helped put him on the path to Peace Corps.

“Being a sociology major, I was already fascinated with different cultures, and I really wanted to experience living in another country, being outside of my comfort zone, and seeing how I would do,” Wandolowski said. “It really began out of a personal challenge to myself to see how far I could go. I knew it would be an amazing chance to see the world from a different point of view.”

After learning about Peace Corps through Wandolowski, Heneghan did some research and realized the 27-month service opportunity would be a good fit for her, as well. Their experiences overseas illustrate the wide range of work being done by volunteers. Wandolowski, a youth development volunteer in Guatemala, taught life skills to about 1,000 students in four different communities. He also helped create a computer lab and brought in 10 computers, providing Internet access to the community for the first time.

As an English education volunteer in Ukraine, Heneghan taught more than 20 teachers and 500 students in her local community, in addition to creating a film club and a weekly English club. Separately, she coordinated three summer camps for orphans and underprivileged children and secured more than $2,000 in grants for health and civics projects.

Both volunteers had to adjust to new cultures and ways of life. Wandolowski recalls how his notions of privacy and independence were challenged by living with a host family in a shared compound. In his impoverished community, he saw how all resources were shared and people took care of one another. For Heneghan, the experience reinforced her belief that what connects people is greater than what divides them.

“People are people,” she said. “The differences we faced in Peace Corps are no different than the differences we face living in the melting pot of America.”

Wandolowski completed his service about a year ago, and Heneghan returned home in November 2012. Now, both are making a difference in the U.S. and say that their service is helping them shape – and achieve – their career and educational goals. Heneghan has the position of communications coordinator at HaveDreams, a Park Ridge, Ill.,-based nonprofit helping children with autism. She plans to study international development and earn a master’s degree through Peace Corps’ Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program, which offers returned volunteers financial aid for graduate school and incorporates degree-related internships in underserved communities.

Wandolowski, now a contractor for the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services, leads community development projects in Chicago. He also hopes to return to graduate school to earn his Master’s in Public Health and eventually run community health programs overseas, goals he had not envisioned before his Peace Corps service. He is also active in sharing his experience and inspiring future volunteers. As a board member for the Chicago Area Peace Corps Association, he advocates for currently serving volunteers and coordinates fundraisers to support their projects. He gives classroom presentations in his hometown of Naperville, where his commitment to service has truly come full circle. Naperville gave him his first opportunity to work with children, and he applied what he learned volunteering with youth sports programs there many years ago to the physical education classes he taught as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Guatemala.

“I came out of Peace Corps knowing myself better than I ever had before,” he said. “I lived in a small house with concrete floors, in the middle of a cornfield, and to this day I am still surprised that I loved it so much. During my time in the Peace Corps, I experienced so many new and exciting things, and I know that I want to do that for the rest of my life.”

About the Peace Corps: Since President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps by executive order on March 1, 1961, more than 210,000 Americans have served in 139 host countries. Today, 8,073 volunteers are working with local communities in 76 host countries in agriculture, community economic development, education, environment, health and youth in development. Peace Corps volunteers must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years of age. Peace Corps service is a 27-month commitment and the agency’s mission is to promote world peace and friendship and a better understanding between Americans and people of other countries. Visit www.peacecorps.gov for more information.